Energy transition sees small wins, major uncertainty in the Upper Midwest 

Catch the latest energy news from around the Great Lakes region. Check back for these biweekly Energy News Roundups. 
Chicago’s commitment to using 100% renewable energy at city-owned buildings went into effect Jan. 1. The 411 buildings owned by the city will get most of their power from the 4,100-acre Double Black Diamond solar farm — the largest solar project east of the Mississippi — and the remainder from renewable energy certificates under an agreement with Constellation Energy. The city is eyeing rooftop solar as a future addition to its buildings.
The Pentagon will blacklist a Chinese company that is working with Ford to open an electric vehicle battery plant in Michigan. Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL), the world’s largest maker of EV batteries, has ties to the Chinese military that pose risks to the U.S. according to the Defense Department. The blacklisting, set to go into effect in 2026, will bar CATL from Defense Department contracts. 
A planned solar cell factory in Minnesota is on hold amid uncertainty about federal clean energy tax credits under the incoming Trump administration. Canadian company Heliene Inc. and India-based Premier Energies, which have proposed what would be the second solar cell manufacturing facility in the United States, say they’re not willing to move forward with the project until Congress decides whether it will preserve parts of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a cornerstone of the Biden administration’s clean energy policy that has come under fire from Republicans.
In an agreement announced this week, electric provider Consumers Energy will remove coal ash from a retiring Michigan coal plant so that it can be used to make concrete. The J.H. Campbell Complex is set to go offline this year and be demolished in or after 2026. Ashcor USA expects to begin removing and processing the coal ash by 2027 and continue for about 20 years. The company has said it can repurpose coal ash as a substitute for up to 30% of traditional cement, which is a significant source of global carbon emissions.
A new EV charging tax launched in Wisconsin on Jan. 1. The 3-cent-per-kilowatt tax on electricity from public charging stations is intended to help fund road maintenance in the state. Drivers of gasoline vehicles contribute to road maintenance through the state’s gas tax. It doesn’t apply to residential chargers, where most EV charging takes place. State officials project that the new tax will generate about $3.35 million in 2025 and $3.85 million in 2026.
More energy news, in case you missed it:
The newly formed Tribal Advocacy Council on Energy seeks to ease energy costs on tribal lands in the Upper Midwest.
Federal regulators are set to decide this year whether Michigan’s Palisades nuclear plant can be reopened as planned.
The new owners of Ohio’s Gavin coal plant told federal regulators that they plan to keep the facility open for as long as it can legally and economically operate.
Xcel En